Self-oiling gearing



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Patented Sept. l5, 1925. UNITED STATES l 1,554,081 PATET orsi' BERTON A. GARRETT, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, SSIGNOR T0 GENERAL ELEC- TRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YURCK. I

SELF-OILING GEARING.

Application mea March 2s, 1923. sena-lato. 627,136.

To all whom t may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, BERToN A. GARRETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Oiling Gearing, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to gearing in which the gear teeth and bearings are lubricated by a pump driven from 'one of the gear wheel shafts and has for its object to providean improved lubricating system wherein the pump is self-priming, thereby providing a gearing which is entirely selfoiling.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the accompanying description and the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a transverse, sectional view of a gearing embodying my invention, the section being taken on line 1-1, Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a plan view with the upper half of the casing removed, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in irregular section, the section being taken partly on line 3 3, Figs. 1 and 2, and through the lubricant pump.

Referring to the drawing, 5 indicates a gear wheel and 6 a pinion meshing therewith, the same being carried by shafts 7 and 8 supported in suitable bearings 9 in the/v gear casing. The gear casing is split horti- Zontally in line with the centers of the .beatifi-J ings to form a base 10 and a cover 11 between which the bearing linings are clamped, this being a usual gearing arrangement. On the end of shaft 7 is a shaft extension 12 which projects through a pump casing 13 and drives gear wheels 14 contained therein and which are utilized as the rotating elements of a gear pump for supplying lubricant to the parts of the gearing requiring lubrication. The suction pipe of the gear pump is indicated at 15 and the discharge pipe at 16. Suction pipe 15 connects with a vertical conduit 17 which is connected by a pipe 18 to the bottom of the gear casing. Discharge pipe 16 is connected by conduits indicated generally by the numeral 19 to the various bearings and the spoon Oilers 20. Any suitable arrangement may be used for distributing lubricant to the parts requiring lubrication, the arrangement shown being onlyby way of example. In the gear casing 1s a .quantity of lubricant 21 which is fed to plpe 18 through a strainer 22 and during normal operation the lubricating pump sucks lubricant from the gear casing through pipe 18, vertical conduit 17 and suction pipe 15 and discharges it throu h (llscharge pipe 16 and distributing conduits For priming the lubricating pump I provlde a reservoir 23 in the upper portion of the gear caslng and at a level above that of the pump and connect it by a conduit 24 and pipe 25 to pipe 18. Reservoir 23 is formed by a wall 26 which extends transversely of the gear casing. It is o en at the top and above it cover 11 is provlded with walls forming a curved'surface 27 for directing lubricant into it. The reservoir 23 and curved surface 27 preferably extend the full width of the gear casing although this is not necessarily re uired. In pipe 18 in advance of the connection to it of pipe 25 as regards the flow of lubricant is a nonreturn valve 28 which prevents flow of lubricant from either pipe 18 or 25 backl toward the gear casing. Depending from the bottom wall of reservoir 23 is a curved plate 29 which follows the contour of ear wheel 5 and forms a trough or hol in means for lubricant carried up by the teet on gear wheel 5.

In the use of my invention, the gear casing is filled with lubricant to a suitablelevel as indicated by the line A in Fig. 1, the level being suliciently high so that gear wheel 5 dips into the lubricant. At this time lubricant will stand in conduits 17 and 25 at this same level A which means of course, that the level in conduit 17 is not such as to prime the lubricant pump. The gearing rota`tes in the direction indicated by the arrows and as soon as the gearing is started, gear wheel 5 serves to pump lubricant up into reservoir 23 from whence it runs down conduit 25 and up conduit 17 until finally the level reaches the admission opening of the lubricant pump. During this time nonreturn valve 28 functions to prevent lubricant owing from conduit 25 back to the gear casing. In performing its pumping function, the teeth on gear wheel 5 carry the lubricant up along trough 29 and discharge it against curved surface 27 which serves to direct it into reservoir 23. As soon as thelubricant reaches the lubricant pum inlet o ning, the p will take hol an begin e distribution of lubricant through conduits 19 to the various parts requirm lubrication. This soon lowers the level o liquid in the gear casing to some level such as that indicated at B which is the normal level when running and as thislevel is below wheel 5, the gear w1ll cease to ump lubricant up to reservoir 23. The evel in conduit 25 will then lower to some point below the level B depending upon the suction of theV lubricant ump. However, the arra eut is such t at the lubricant pump w' not draw the level down to a int where the ump can suck air through conduit 25 and` ose its riming. In other words pipes 17 and 25 orm a trap to prei vent the pump losing its priming a r 1t is started. Itwill thus be seen that as soon as the gearing is started the lubricant will .be automatically rimed. Concluits 19 are below the level of e bearings, as shown in Fig. 1. With this arrangement, a certain amount of lubricant will remain in' these conduits after the initial run in readiness to be forced through the 'bearings as soon as the pump again starts into operation. This permits the bearings to receive lubricant immediately after the gearing starts, since thel distributing conduits will remain practically full after the initial run. The lubricant contained between levels A and B represents the amount of lubricant required to'iill the distributing conduits and conduits 17 and 25, andto wet the various surfaces in the gear casing and when the gearin stops running a certain quantity of this l ricant runs back into the bottom of the casing to again raise the level from B a certain distance toward A. If found de sirabl the shaft bearings may be lubricated manu y when starting u With the above descri arrangement, the lubricant ump may be locatedfdirectly in-line wit and be driven directly by one of the gear wheel shafts.' This 1s of advanta in that it makes a simple structure an enables the lubricant pum 'to be placed in a positionwhere it is'rea ily accessible for inspection and repair.

In accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes, I have describedthe principle of operation of my invention, together wlth the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the Unitedv States, 1s:-

1. In a gearing, the combination of a casing adapted to old lubricant inits lower portion, gear wheels journaled in the casing, a pum or sup lying lubricant tothe parts to be ubrica a conduit connecting the admission side of the pum with the casing below the lubricant eve and automatic means connected with said conduit for suppllying lubricant thereto to prime the pum w en starting up.

2. In a gearing; the combination of a casing adapted to old lubricant in its lower portion, gear wheels journaled in the casing, a pump or supplying lubricant to the parts to be lubricate directly from one of the gear wheels and located above the normal lubricant level, a conduit connecting the admission side of the pump with the casing below the lubricant level, and means connected with said conduit for automatically'supply'ing lubricant thereto to prime the pump when starting' ing adapted to old lubricant in its lower portion, gear wheels journaled in the cas- 1ng, a pump for supplying lubricant from the casin to the parts to be lubricated, and a reservoir to whlch lubricant is pumped by the gear wheels te prime the lubricant pump when starting up.

4. In a gearing, the combination of a casing ada ted to contain lubricant, shafts journale in walls of the casing, gear wheels on said shafts, a lubricant pump having a casing fastened directly on a side of the gear casing and having a shaft in line with and connected vto one of said shafts, conduit means connecting said pump to the gear casing for' drawing lubricant there-- rom, and means connected with said conduit means for automatically supplying lubricant thereto to prime the pump when starting up.

5. In a gearing, the combination of a casing adapted to contain lubricant, shafts journaled in walls of said casing, gear wheels on said shafts, a lubricant pum driven from one of said shafts and locates above the level of the liquid in the casing, a suction conduit connecting the admission side of said pump to thelgear casing, a conduit for priming the pump, means for supplying lubricant to said primin conduit when starting up, and means in't e suction conduit adjacent the casing for preventing flow of lubricant in said conduit in the direction of the casing.

6. In a gearing, the combination of a casing ada ted to contain lubricant, shafts journals in walls of said casing, gear wheels on said shafts, a lubricant pum driven from one of said shafts and loca above the level of the liquid in the casing, a conduit for supplying lubricant te said pump, means for suppl in lubricant to said conduit to. overcome ev 'iference in level sald pump being driven i El. In a gearin the combination of a cas` ef the pump and lubricant when starting up, and a trap to maintain the di'erence in level of oil in the casing and in the conduit supplying the pump when starting u 'Z'. in a gearing, the combination oi a casing adapted to hold lubricant in its lower portions, said lubricant having a certain higher level when the Gearing is at rest and a certain lower level w en the gearing is in operation, gear wheels journaled in the casing, one of said gear wheels being located in the casing in a position to clear the lubricant when the same is at its lower level and to be partly immersed therein when the lubricant is atits higher level, means forming with said gear wheel a lubricant pump aving an inlet above the lower level of the lubricant, a second pump for supplying lubricant from the portion of the casing below the lower level therein to parts to be lubricated, said pump being driven directl from one of the gear wheels and locat above the higher lubricant level, a reservoir for receiving the discharge from the first-named pump, said reservoir bein located above the inlet to the second-name pump, a conduit comprising two substantially vertical sections in series connecting the reservoir with the inlet of the second pump, a conduit providing a connection between the casing below the lower lubricant level and the junction between the vertical conduit sections, said junction being below the bottom of the casing, and a valve means in said last-named conduit for preventing flow therein in the direction of the casing.,

8. ln a gearing, the combination of a casing adapted to contain lubricant in its lower portions, shafts journaled in the walls of said casing above the lubricant leve-l, gear wheels on said shafts, a lubricant pump driven from one of said shafts and located above the lubricant level in the casing, a

air of conduits extending from below the evel of the lubricant in the casing to the level of the admission side of the pump, a suction conduit connecting one of said pair of conduits with the admission side of the pump, means connected with the other of said pair of conduits for automatically supplying lubricant thereto when the gearing is initiall started, a conduit joining the lower ends o the pair of conduits with the casing below the lubricant level, and means in the last-named conduit adjacent the casing for reventing flow of lubricant therein in the direction of said casing.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 22ndday of March, 1923.

BERTON A. GARRE'IT. 

